As computers and computer networks become more and more able to access a wide variety of information, people are demanding more ways to obtain that information. Specifically, people now expect to have access, on the road, in the home, or in the office, to information previously available only from a permanently-connected personal computer hooked to an appropriately provisioned network. They want stock quotes and weather reports from their cell phones, e-mail from their personal digital assistants (PDAs), up-to-date documents from their palm tops, and timely, accurate search results from all their devices. They also want all of this information when traveling, whether locally, domestically, or internationally, in an easy-to-use, portable device.
Portability generally requires a device small in size, which in turn limits the number of data entry keys and the amount of memory and available processing power. In addition, ultra portable devices often must be held in one hand or not held at all, so that data entry must be one-handed or no-handed. These limitations in the device generally must be compensated for by the user. For example, the user may have to use a limited keyboard such as a telephone keypad, or limited speech recognition capabilities. Such constrained devices may force a user to learn special tricks for data entry (such as shorthand writing on a PDA) or may generate data that the user never intended, by making inaccurate guesses at ambiguous data entries.
Some attempts to solve these problems have been made. For example, PDAs have been programmed to recognize short-hand and long-hand writing. Also, cell phones can recognize entered letters, even though the presence of three letters on each key can create ambiguities about the intended text, such as by allowing the user to press key combinations, either simultaneously or in sequence (e.g., triple tap). Other solutions involve making educated guesses at what letters the user intended to enter, such as by identifying all possible terms that match a combination of pressed keys, and selecting the most common term or presenting the user with a list of possible terms sorted from most common to least common. These solutions all have limitations.
Even apart from portable, constrained devices, users want more text-entry intelligence in their computers. For example, users want systems that assist with data entry or correct errors in data entry, such as spell checkers and grammar checkers. Again, there are multiple solutions, but all have limitations.
Therefore, there is a need for a system that assists a user in entering data more quickly and more accurately, both in devices with full functionality and in constrained devices.